"Mitt Romney has indicated that he would be willing to drive the U.S. further into recession by pandering on China for political advantage. Moreover, his proposed 'solution' is not possible and was widely panned by observers and international economic experts," said campaign spokesman Tim Miller.

“Jon Huntsman understands China. He is offering substantive solutions that will help our economy, not pleasant-sounding sound bites that in practice would hurt entrepreneurs and job creators. Voters can trust Jon Huntsman to be a problem-solver who is ready to deal with issues on day one."

MITT ROMNEY: “Well, number one, I would do something this president should have done a long time ago, which is to label China a currency manipulator.

JASON RILEY: “And then he would start a trade war.” 'ANCHOR: “I think his view on China in terms of at least sounding like he’s pushing a trade war is not necessarily good.”

HANK GREENBERG: “It leads to trade wars. It’s simply wrong. Not in our national interest, and I think it was a dumb idea.”

BRIT HUME: “Combine that with Romney’s apparent willingness to risk a trade war with China, his vagueness on tax rates, and his numerous switches on other issues and you can see why so many Republicans are wary of him.”

ANCHOR: “The Wall Street Journal said that was a dangerous instinct in a commander-in-chief.”

ANCHOR: “If there’s too much pressure on them, they’re going to crack. And that’s going to bring down the U.S. That’s going to bring down the rest of Asia.”

ANCHOR: “Jon Huntsman tonight gave some very substantive answers on things that he had personal knowledge about. For example, with respect to China, he corrected Mitt Romney. He spoke knowledgably about what engaging and being antagonistic toward China with trade policy might lead to a trade war.”

JON HUNTSMAN: “I don’t know that this country needs a trade war with China. Who does it hurt? Our small businesses in South Carolina, our exporters.”

Background:

The Washington Post Agreed With Gov. Huntsman That Gov. Romney Was Wrong To Claim He Could Take China To The WTO Over Currency Manipulation. “We love it when candidates fact check each other. And in this case, Huntsman – a former U.S. ambassador to China—is right. As the Congressional Research Service has documented, the WTO is not designed to be a forum to discuss currency manipulation, and its rules would need to be amended before Romney’s proposal could be entertained.” (Glenn Kessler, “Fact Checking The South Carolina Debate,” The Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” Blog, 11/13/11)